The polyethnic character of the Ukrainian culture is distinguished by its exceptional wealth and creates an enormous potential for scientific research. It is especially important for the Western region of Ukraine, so rich in a diversity of co-existing ethnic groups with unique spiritual and material culture.Guzuls occupy a special place among these ethnographic groups. Having certain general ethnocultural features, typical for Eastern Slavic nationalities, Guzulshchyna shows its own regional originality of economic way of life, daily routines, material and spiritual culture. These qualities caused the unique role of ethno-group’s spiritual heritage in the semantics of national self-identity and unique regional color, function of powerful factor of style-forming, national and ethnic representation in the European cultural space. It has been constantly attracting the attention of historians, ethnographers, folklorists, writers.The Guzul choreographic culture is perhaps the most vivid in the overall layout of Ukrainian dancing art, it has passed through a long way from the ancient ritual-ceremony activities to the highest modern artistic forms. Its images are also widely represented in literature and theater, painting, sculpture, crafts, ceramics, carving, works of blacksmithing, weaving, cinematography, academic genres of musical art, ethno-versions of variety art, pop-, rock- and jazz-culture. At the same time, folk melodies, songs, dances were probably the greatest influencing factors, which contributed to forming the national consciousness of Ukrainians, and this could not but frighten the authorities of totalitarian regimes. Exactly due to these motives, Vasyl Avramenko, Vasyl Kostiv (Verkhovynets), Yaroslav Chuperchuk were pursued. Even superficial acquaintance with the named thematic sphere brightly reveals the exceptional, even dominant significance of using the images of Guzul dance as a type of art, which combines cognizable ethnic symbolics, original plasticity of motion, dramatic architectonics of integral dance compositions, timbre-rhythmic, tune uniqueness of music row, beauty and functionality of costume.. A special value of folk dance as a component of social life means such an important aspect as patriotic sport education. Involving the means of Guzul choreography in up-to-date forms of sport-educational and ethno-pedagogical movement, the art workers (mainly professional choreographers with multifaceted European education) of relevant branches opened a deep potential of practical application of choreography in general sport qualities and in the sense of patriotic educating. The pedagogical and research activity of V. Avramenko and R. Harasymchuk, which introduces a number of new approaches to scenic types of Guzul choreography, existence of a powerful statistical-empirical base and its multifaceted structuring, is raising the understanding of ethno-choreographic folklore up to the scientific level, being connected with the growing role of educational institutions as centers of cultivating interest in authentic choreographic forms. In such a way, centers appear, later – networks of institutions of specialized choreographic education, which became a further step in the evolution of socio-cultural role of ethnic choreography. The Thesis conceptually interprets the main tendencies of formation, development and functioning of Guzul choreographic culture as a unique art phenomenon of Western region of Ukraine in the cultural and ethno-pedagogical aspects; it explains the role of Guzul folk dance in the choreographic culture of the Ukrainian people and analyzes the symbolism of dance forms in the Guzul authentic culture; defines the ways of developing the stage forms of choreographic Guzul folklore at the beginning of the 20th century from the view point of amateur art, ethno-pedagogy, patriotic sport education and theatrical art; shows the significance of Guzul choreography in the professional pedagogy of folk dance of Ukraine; highlights the component of Guzul choreography in the field of regional competition-festival movement; researches the activity of leading professional and amateur teams from the standpoint of representative role of Guzul choreographic culture.
